Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville Housing Market Update April 2009

Welcome to my monthly eNewsletter!!I wrote this issue while I was attending my final GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute) class in Kitty Hawk, NC. I finally earned my GRI designation in April, only about 19% of the Realtors have this designation.

The GRI designation requires intensive education in real estate investing, property management, 1031 exchanges, client value creation, listing strategies, negotiations and many other advanced topics. I hope I could leverage the knowledge and experiences I gained from GRI to better serve my clients and friends. I am also working toward my CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) designation to expand my professional network in this competitive real estate industry and give me up-to-date knowledge in the market trends. I will keep you posted about my CRS designation.

Today, many people especially first time buyers believe they can do all of the research on the internet themselves and make their decisions themselves without getting any professional advice. Many of them got entangled in the process along the way.

Over the years, I have seen people "got burned" in the real estate process and transactions because they don't have an Entrusted Real Estate Advisor. I strongly recommend that you get someone you can trust completely and can give you unbiased advice... you simply need an entrusted real estate advisor who not only can help you see the things you don't see yourself, and also not only give you valuable advice in the real estate process but also help you plan and execute your real estate transactions.

The professional real estate broker job is very demanding and requires tremendous experiences, excellence in execution and up-to-date knowledge about the local market trends and pricing. Sometimes I am really amazed by how some people who have a regular full time job in other industry and work as a weekend (part-time) real estate agent can really provide the best sevices and advice to their clients.

Look for the qualifications and client testimonials when you are selecting your "entrusted advisor" for your real estate transactions.

Here is the market update for Wake County in March and April per NAR data:Total Active Listing: 10911Total Pending Listing: 1033

The statistics for the median home segments are as follows:250K-299K 93 1194 8%300K-399K 137 1758 8%

The statistics for the luxury home segments are as follows:400K-499K 41 970 4%500K-749K 37 1130 3%750K-999K 12 397 3%1 million or up 10 301 3%

The most active segments are entry and mid-market. The highest percentage of Total Pending/ Total Active are in the entry level market segments (less than $250K price ranges).Two buyer groups are driving the sales of those segments: first time buyers and investors. Many of those sales are "foreclosure" properties.

The weakest sales are in the luxury home sgements as expeceted due to the current economic conditions. The builders such as Toll Brothers and John Wieland had huge sales incentives in April to help promote their new homes which put more competitive pressure to the resales in the luxury home segment. Aside from these statistics, each subdivision has its own dynamics and sales trends.

Make sure you understand those data for your particular real estate transaction. So, I am helping many sellers to list their houses for sales during the prime time period (mid May, June, July and early August)........ and just want to give you guys a heads up that if you want to sell and sell it fast..... ACT NOW!!!!

Most of the houses I helped my buyer purchase in the past couple of months were all priced very competitively and I helped my buyer submit the offer almost the same date they were listed. So, I want to let you know you want to sell it this market and move very fast......it works if you know the magicial number -- "the right pricing strategy"!!!

Anyway, April defintely was a good month for my buyers. Even though there was more competitions than expected, I helped my buyers get some very good deals, no matter they were brand new, resale or foreclosure properties.

Please feel free to email or call me if you have any real estate question.

Your Entrusted and Experienced Triangle Real Estate Advisor

Cary-Raleigh Realty, Inc. serves real estate clients who are interested to buy or sell their Residential and Commerical properties. We will develop marketing plans for Sellers and generate the highest traffic and negotiate for the highest return of investment.
We will locate and protect Buyers best interest and to secure the best possible deals for them. Help my buyer to transit smoothly when they new to the area and provide all the necessary information and connection they may need. Fluent in English and Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese)